What Are You So Scared Of?
by OfClumsyWords
Summary: Bennett thought she left the town of Mystic Falls behind five years ago but everything has changed. Well, everything except the mistakes she tried to bury there. Her past seems to be resurfacing the moment she steps foot back into town, including a new threat that made her come back in the first place.
1. Chapter 1

**Title Credit: Tonight Alive**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from The Vampire Diaries. All I own is the story line and the other characters.**

**...**

Climbing out of her car, Bennett jogged up the steps of the police station of Mystic Falls and pulled the glass door open and walked inside. It was just like it had been when she had last been there five years ago, before she had moved away for a job opportunity. But now that opportunity relocated her back to her hometown and there was mixed feelings about it bubbling inside of her as she rounded the corner towards the door with the title Sheriff Forbes printed on the front where she needed to be briefed about her new assignment. Finding the all too familiar door, she took a deep breath as she raised her hand up and knocked twice on the frosted window and waited for the Sheriff to allow her inside. When she heard the answer, she slowly twisted the knob open, preparing herself for the reaction that was bound to come once she realized who exactly it was knocking on her door. When she walked inside, she caught the look of shock and confusion cross Sheriff Forbes face also with a little disappointment and disapproval. But once Bennett turned back to face her after shutting the door, she saw that she had contained her reaction and a forced smile resting on her lips instead of the slightly annoyed look she had given before. But it wasn't that odd that such a look had crossed her face, they did after all leave on bad terms the last time they had seen each other five years ago. Bennett was used to it by now, getting those looks from the people who lived in Mystic Falls, her reputation had made sure of that. But after she left she had made sure that the next time she returned would be different, and hopefully that would still be true. Though only time would tell.

"Bennett, what are you doing here?" She asked as she stood from her desk-piled high with paperwork and sticky notes littering the computer screen- and gestured to the old chair in front of the desk.

Bennett took the seat offered as the older woman also took hers once again and folded her hands together on the only area not covered in papers. "Well, if I'm not mistaken you did ask for a hunter."

"You're a vampire hunter?"

Bennett simply nodded and grabbed her bag that she had put at her feet to grab her reassignment papers and handed them to the Sheriff. "Yep. Here, take a look for yourself."

The Sheriff took a few moments to look through the papers and then once she was satisfied with what they said she folded them up and handed them back to Bennett. She took them back and put them in her messenger bag once again before turning back to the Sheriff to find her watching her, almost as if she didn't believe her even after the solid proof the younger girl had just given her.

"Well ok then," Forbes finally said, standing from her desk and walking over to the safe tucked in the corner of the room on top of one of the filing cabinets. She twisted in the combination and after three turns, it clicked open surprisingly easily even though the safe looked ancient. She pushed a few things to the side and rummaged through it until she found what she had been looking for and pulled it out and the closed and locked the safe once again and turned back to Bennett and showed her what she had taken out. "I assume you know what this is then."

Bennett simply nodded, easily recognizing the standard police issued handgun, only the chamber that had bullets wasn't loaded in the gun but resting next to the gun in the Sheriffs hand. It wasn't full of normal bullets either like anyone would expect. Instead, it was loaded with wooden bullets, the only real thing that could do the most damage to vampires besides stakes that is. Bennett reached behind to grab her own gun tucked in the waistband of her jeans under her shirt. She showed the gun to the older woman and slid the chamber out to show she even had the same bullets also.

"Ah so the Association already provided you with the necessary tools. Good, then you're all set to go. You have a place to stay right? If not there are some hotels just outside of town. I don't recommend anything inside of town though since no one has room."

"I already found an apartment a few days before I got here. Found it on the internet and talked to the land lord on the phone and he said no problem. Going to head over there to sign the papers as soon as we're done here."

The Sheriff nodded, "good, then if you don't mind I'd like your address to contact you if needed."

"Fine, I don't know it yet, but I can call you with it once I do. Has your number changed again? The last time I tried it you either changed your number or simply blocked mine. But if we're going to be working together I'm going to need it."

"I understand, my number is-" she started but the door to the office was suddenly knocked on and she sighed slightly before inviting the person in.

Both women watched as the door opened and a tall, dark, and handsome guy walked in with longish hair and leather jacket. He made eye contact with Bennett first and a charming smirk graced his lips making her roll her eyes at him. His smirk just widened as he turned to Sheriff Forbes and then it turned into the charming smile from before. Apparently the Sheriff knew who he was because she instantly gave a friendly smile back and her whole attitude changed to what it had before when she had been short and snappy. Now she was all kind and sweet to whoever this guy was which made Bennett want to roll her eyes at but she stopped herself. She was trying to change things even though after only ten minutes with the Sheriff it looked like that was going to be harder that it seemed.

"Bennett," Sheriff Forbes snapped, pulling Bennett from her thoughts and making her look up to see the Sheriffs and the guys eyes on her. "As I was saying, I would like to introduce you to Damon Salvatore, one of the members of our council. He's helped us quite a lot with hunting the vampires. Without his help we wouldn't be where we are at this moment."

"Clearly, because you're jail cells are overflowing with vampires waiting to be executed. Why exactly did you need me here? To be another pretty face for your highly educated search team." Bennett snapped back, irritated about the tone Forbes had used to get her attention. Sure it wasn't the best way to start over but Bennett wasn't just going to sit there and allow the older woman to talk to her as if she was a child. She wasn't the same unruly 16 year old she had been seven years ago. The same girl who booked a one way ticket out of town as soon as she was 18 and didn't even think of coming back until five years later. Sure her past was rocky and full of petty crimes, but she was a changed person, even if being back in her hometown made her worst come out. She was going to show this town that she changed and that they had no right comparing her to when she was younger.

The guy smirked as Sheriff Forbes looked like she was about to pop a vein. But surprisingly, she didn't say anything about it and turned to him without another glance towards her. "And Damon, this is Bennett Ericsson. Our newest arrival to our team. She was sent from the Hunters Association in California to help us and teach us the best techniques for hunting and killing those monsters."

Damon turned to Bennett and gave a slight bow with that same smirk on his face. A smirk that to her looked like he had a secret and he wanted to let people know that he did but wouldn't actually tell what it was. "Nice to meet you Miss Ericsson, I'm intrigued to see what information you for our search."

"Uhuh," Bennett muttered as she bent to grab her bag as she stood from her chair. "Well its been a nice chat, but I must go. Just wanted to pop in for a nice little catch up and tell you that I'm here. I'll give you my number and address when I have time, see ya."

She pushed past Damon as she walked towards the door and booked it as fast as she could go. There were too many memories in that office and she had tried to keep them out of her head but she just couldn't. The whole way out of the station and to her car, she could feel the judging looks of the officers as she passed. They all knew her and her reputation and it haunted her every day since. She didn't need these people, this perfect little town, constantly reminding her of all her screw ups. She remembered each and every one of them. It haunted her everyday and she was sure it would never go away as long as she was alive. That was why she took job she did, every day there was the risk of death and if she did die, then she wouldn't be haunted by her demons anymore. She wouldn't have to have the constant reminder of everything that happened when she was a teenager.

Unlocking her car and getting in, she jammed her keys in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot as fast as she could. She had lied when she said that she hadn't been to her new apartment yet. She had gotten in the day before and helped the movers take all her things up and unpacked the little she had brought with her. But she had been putting off the meeting with the Sheriff as long as she could. It was also a lie that she didn't know her phone number or address. Of course she knew them, she just hadn't wanted to give them to Forbes yet. She needed that little moment of being cut off from this town while she could. Once she did give those two little pieces of information, she would be apart of Mystic Falls again and she didn't know if she was ready for that yet.

As soon as she got home, she slammed the door closed to her apartment and tears immediately sprung to her eyes. Why she had ever thought she was prepared to come back was beyond her. She obviously wasn't ready and fully regretted agreeing to coming back. But she had also been running from something in California also and thought that coming back to her hometown had been a good idea. Obviously not.

She collapsed on her bed and pulled a pillow to her stomach and squeezed it as she closed her eyes and buried her head in the top. After a few minutes of crying, she felt something soft touch her arm and opened her eyes to be met with the worried gaze of her black lab Ollie, who was obviously concerned about her crying. Patting the bed beside her, she invited him up and he gladly did so and snuggled into her, hoping to comfort her in some way. She had gotten him two days after she had arrived in California when she was 18. He was her best friend and she probably wouldn't have survived without him. Ollie was exactly what she had needed to help herself recover from everything from her past. She almost didn't come back to Mystic Falls since she couldn't find an apartment that would allow animals besides cats and caged animals. And if she hadn't found the place she had, she wouldn't have come. She couldn't have survived without Ollie, especially now with all the memories resurfacing now that she was back. Which was why she wasn't having a panic attack as she continued to cry because Ollie was there. He was her personal guardian angel. So she just hugged him tighter as she continued to cry praying that things would be different the second time around.

**...**

**So second story I've posted on here and also first story thought of for TVD. I got addicted to the show when I was at school and my roommates introduced me to it. Anyway, so hopefully this is a good start, I always freak out a little when it comes to new stories... So feedback about this would be amazing. I'm thinking that this story is going to take place during season two, right in the beginning when Katherine said that she never loved Damon and that it was always Stefan. Yeah, right when she broke his heart into a million pieces. Don't get me wrong though, I actually like Katherine a lot. I think she's a really well written character and Nina does an awesome job playing her. Though just to make clear now, I'm not an Elena lover. She's ok but the whole love triangle annoys me, not that I even like love triangles to begin with. Anyway, sorry. Also I should mention that the whole love triangle where Elena loves both doesn't exist in this story. Elena and Stefan will always be together. In this story Elena will never be torn between the two and Damon doesn't fall in love with Elena... Sorry if anyone was wanting that but... I have my own plans. So hopefully even after this long ass authors note you'll still consider giving this story a try! :) thanks for reading! 3**


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, well, well, hello Miss Ericsson," a voice said behind Bennett as she scanned one of the selves in the grocery store she was in.

She turned to see who exactly it was who was speaking to her since she didn't recognize the voice and found Damon Salvatore standing there with a smirk on his face. Bennett was beginning to think that the smirk was permanently stuck on his face because even if that moment was the second time she saw him it seemed to be a common thing for him. He looked her up down which made her blush since she was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a tank top and her hair thrown up in a messy pony tail. She had gone for a run earlier, but hadn't been bothered to take a shower or even change for that matter to just go to the grocery store. But at that moment she was really regretting that decision as she tired to avoid his gaze.

It was also embarrassing because even if she didn't want to admit it, he was good looking. He had beautiful bright blue eyes and sharp jaw and dark hair that brought out his eyes even more. Not to mention the leather jacket and dark jeans and T-shirt he wore with scuffed up black boots. He screamed dangerous with a hidden dark side and Bennett always found herself attracted to men like that. Even after countless times of dating men like that it always turned out badly. She never learned and she found herself finding him attractive even if he would never go for a girl like him.

She was all legs, too tall and too skinny with pale skin and boring brown eyes and hair. She preferred ripped jeans and beat up Converse to dresses and heals and absolutely hated make up. Her hair always stayed down or in a messy pony tail or bun that she didn't even take time to do properly. He more than likely went for girls with class, with brains and beauty. While she was more boyish than anything. After all she was a vampire hunter for goodness sake. She was fit and knew how to handle weapons and how to kill someone with a everyday object like a pencil. She even carried weapons in her car and bag and was constantly looking for a potential threat. Something no guy would ever look for in a girl. It always ended the same way whenever a guy figured out exactly what she did for a living. They usually called her crazy and then told her that they wanted nothing to do with her ever again. She knew that Damon would be like the rest so there was no point in even trying. Though that didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy the view.

"Hello Damon, what brings you here?"

"I was just shopping for some things and wanted to stop by and say a quick hello."

She bit her lip as she took in the lack of groceries and cart that he had and gave him a disbelieving look. "C'mon, we both know thats a lie. Now what was it really that you came for?"

"You caught me," he admitted with a smirk. "I was actually in the hardware store, getting a few things and saw you come in here. I wanted to ask you out for coffee so we could get to know one another better."

"Is this your own strange way of asking me out?"

His smirk widened, "No, just out as two coworkers simply talking over a cup of coffee. I've had a few suspicions about some of the members of the council and wanted to talk to you in private about it. See if you can give me your opinion and whats the best way to go about it."

She stood there for a moment, contemplating whether or not to agree. He was good looking but seemed to be keeping something from the council which in return made her not want to trust him. But Sheriff Forbes seemed to trust him well enough and Bennett knew that she had good judgement. Though that wasn't going to stop her from bringing her guard down when she was around Damon. But maybe by agreeing she would be able to get on his good side and figure out what exactly he was hiding. So that was the reason she found herself nodding and agreeing to what he asked.

They made a plan to give her an hour to finish grocery shopping and quick stop at her apartment to drop her bags off. Once he agreed and walked away, she grabbed what she had been meaning to get from the shelf in front of her and then steered her cart towards the checkout lines so she could head home as quickly as possible. Thankfully she only lived less than three minutes from the grocery store so in no time she found herself unlocking her front door while trying to balance all the bags in her hands and get inside without harming herself. Bennett only put away the groceries that needed to be put in the fridge and left the others for later and rushed into her bedroom to change. Of course she knew that it wasn't a date but he had started talking to her right after she had gone for run and looked as gross as she felt and was in desperate need of a shower.

The shower was heating up as she scanned he closet for something a little better to wear and settled for a pair of skinny jeans and a clean shirt and carried them into the bathroom with her once she knew the shower was ready. Once she was out of the shower a few minutes later and dressed, she ran a brush and product through her hair and blow dried it and style it quickly, knowing that she was running out of time. When she was finished, she gave Ollie a kiss and then grabbed her keys and bag and rushed out the door, just barely on time. Thankfully the drive to the coffee shop was quick and she didn't get stopped at any stop lights so it didn't make her officially late.

When she walked into the shop, she glanced around and found Damon sitting at a table in the corner of the shop. When she approached the table, he stood from his seat as she took the one opposite him. Once he was seated also with a friendly hello accompanied by that ever present smirk, he offered to go get her drink for her. She tired to say no but he was persistent and she finally gave in and he excused himself go order for them.

"So what exactly was is that you wanted to speak with me about?" Bennett asked once Damon had returned with their drinks.

"Well, I wanted to understand the Association better. I've never heard of it before and I'm curious."

Nodding, she set her drink down and leaned in a little. The easiest conversations for her were about things that she was passionate about. But one of the hardest things about her job was that not many people actually knew the truth about vampires, werewolves, and witches. They still thought that they were part of children's books and that there was no possible way that it could be true. But it was and she loved her job so of course she wanted to talk about it, but of course she couldn't. So whenever someone asked what she did, she had to say that she was an aid to the police when needed for different investigations going on. Which is basically what she did, but the thing she didn't tell anyone who asked was that she investigated the creatures that no one believed existed. It was the hardest when the police who called her in didn't even know they existed and she had to give another more rational story to what was happening in their towns to cover up the truth. The Association always believed that the less people who knew about the existence of the creatures the better. So she ended up lying to the town who wanted nothing more than the answers as to why gruesome murders or animal attacks where happening in their town. That was one of the hardest parts of her job.

"What exactly do you want to know about it?"

Damon smiled, another mysterious secretive smile that Bennett wanted to know what he was hiding but before she could mention it he was already speaking. "How did it get founded? I've known about vampires since I was young but I never knew about the Association, didn't even know something like that existed."

"Thats how they want it to be. I never even heard of such a thing until they contacted me five years ago. The Association started about ten years ago because of the increased vampire sighting throughout the country. Their main goal is to train anyone willing to know the best ways to outsmart and kill a vampire or werewolves and witches too if need be. But right now the vampires are the biggest problem. You go through a year and a half course of everything needed and for a year and a half after you pass all your exams you are teamed up with a mentor and given assignments. Then after the mentor passes you the trainee is at the highest level of hunters and allowed to go on missions alone. They can also further train to become the leader of group missions which takes about another half a year to go through."

"So how did you get involved?"

Bennett sighed as images of her past flashed in her mind. She wasn't proud of some of the things she had done, but joining the Association was one of the better things she had done in her life. But before she was asked to come, she had a very troubled past, and that was one of the main reasons they had contacted her. To give her a second chance and new life away from her small town that seemed to hate her.

"I was just about to turn 18 when they first contacted me," she began, taking a deep breath already knowing it was going to be a long explanation from experience. "I had a really bad past, getting into trouble. Making the police, the town, and my own family hate me. Then about a month before my birthday the Association sent me a letter explaining that they were aware that I knew the truth about vampires and offered me a place in the next year they were teaching to become a hunter. And for a teenager with a bad past and no real future planned, it sounded like a great idea. So I packed up the little I owned in my beat up old car and drove out to California. And thats where I've been ever since. I haven't been back to Mystic Falls for five years so its a little hard to get used to. Sheriff Forbes always saw me as a delinquent and she's really angry that I'm the one that was sent to help with the search. Neither of us knew that the other was informed on vampires until I was assigned to come here. My boss decided that it would be a good idea for me to come here, he knows all about my past and thought that it would help me get over my demons."

"And hows that working out for you?"

"So far not very well," she admitted. "Anyway, please can we stop talking about me? What about you? How did you end up in this tiny little town?"

"Well I grew up here and left when I was a little younger than you. But like you also I came back to face my demons and my brother wanted to come back to finish school here. Both our parents are gone and it's just been us for a while now and he wanted to come back to be closer to mom and dad I guess. And I couldn't say no, I'm his guardian and I honestly didn't see why not so we packed up and moved back here."

Bennett nodded slightly in understanding, suddenly realizing how similar they both were. Well, once you got past Damon's cockiness. Before she could say anything more, wanting to ask only a few of the dozens of questions she had for him, his phone rang. He gave her an apologetic smile as he grabbed his phone from the pocket in his leather jacket and checked the caller id before he answered. The conversation was short and stern and Bennett honestly tried not to eavesdrop but when he was sitting right across from him and the coffee shop now almost empty, it was hard not to.

Moments later he was saying goodbye to whoever it was and hung up. "Sorry about that, that was my brother."

"Is everything ok?" She asked, picking up on the worried look in his eyes. He may keep up stone face that doesn't show emotions but his eyes told her everything that his expressions didn't. She could tell that he loved his brother even though they had been through some hard times and that whatever he had said on the phone had Damon worried.

"Actually no, something came up and I unfortunately have to go. Maybe we can reschedule again?"

She nodded as he stood up, giving her one last slight smile before he was rushing out of the shop, leaving her suddenly feeling very alone. But it was something she was used to by then, she had been on her own since she was about ten, her mom always working and her father out of the picture for all of her life. Sure there was her little sister who she had been really close with until her mom kicked her out of the house once she turned 18. But she hadn't talked to her more than eight times in the last five years. Of course there was the mandatory phone call for holidays and birthdays, but besides that nothing, she had totally cut herself off from Mystic Falls as soon as she left. Bennett wasn't even sure if her sister knew she was back in town. Probably not since her mom always tried to protect her from Bennett even though they were inseparable before she left.

She looked up from the empty cup that she had been staring at with a sigh and stood from her seat, suddenly feeling the walls closing in around her. She threw her trash away and grabbed her keys as she crossed the parking lot to get to her car. As she was opening the door, she heard sudden laughter coming from across the street and found three girls walking together, talking with huge smiles on their faces. She instantly recognized all three of them and she forced herself to look away and get in her car as she felt her heart clench. She knew that coming back to Mystic Falls would stir up old memories and reopen old wounds but she didn't think it would be that bad. She had to force herself to go through each step of starting the car and driving away before they recognized her. Bennett didn't think she would be able to handle that if they saw her. So with a heavy heart she drove off as fast as she could back to her lonely apartment praying that a new assignment came so that she could get her mind off all the memories resurfacing and haunting her.


End file.
